Implement for applying fluent materials



July 15, 1941. J. P. NlssEN, JR

IMPLEMENT FOR APPLYING FLUENT MATERIALS Filed March 9, 1940 E www vm.; VP m #Ilfg/lWI Patented July 15, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE IM'PLEMENT FOR APPLYING FLUEN T MATERIALS J ohn P. Nissen, Jr., Noble, Pa. Application March 9, 1940, Serial No. 323,217

6 Claims.

This invention relates to implements for applying coatings of fluid, semi-paste, or other fluent materials to underlying surfaces, and more especially to implements of the type disclosed in my Patent No, 2,192,479, issued March 5, 1940,

and comprising rigid tubular reservoirs for containing a body of the material to be applied, a valved tip mounted upon the end of the barrel for applying the material to the surface to be treated, and so arranged with relation to the tip as to require that the latter be held in substantially vertical position when the tip is applied in operative relation to a surface to be treated, and a follower slidable within the barrel and in contact with the upper surface of the fluent material for protecting such material against contact with air, and for exerting pressure upon the material when the barrel is in substantially ver'tical position, for feeding the material to the tip.

In commercial manufacture of the reservoir barrels and followers it has proven that there is an apparently unavoidable variation in clearance between the meeting surfaces of the followers and reservoirs, which makes impractical upon a commercial scale the suiciently accurate fitting of the parts to preclude escape of the fluent material to the space behind the follower. This escape by the iiuent material may be of two types; one being where the clearance is sufiiciently great to permit the fluent material to flow upward past the follower, such being occasioned by the follower displacing the fluent material and resulting in the follower sinking through the material; the other being where the clearance is suiliciently small to prevent ow of the material upward past the follower, but being sulcient to permit a film of the material to adhere to the wall of the reservoir and to be passed by the follower as it descends with the top of the body of material.

As mentioned above, in the first type of escape of the material, the follower will sink, resulting in obvious disadvantages. The passing by the follower of a film of the material upon'the wall of the reservoir will result, in case the fluent material is air-drying as most materials applied by such implements are, in the drying of the material while adhering to both the reservoir and follower, resulting in sticking of the follower within the reservoir.

One object of the present invention is to provide in an implement of the character in question novel means for preventing sticking of the follower to the reservoir by reason of the presence in its rear of fluent material from the body of such material contained by the implement.

Another object is to provide in such an implement a novel follower that will not sink in the material, regardless of the clearance between the Wall of the reservoir and the follower and of the viscosity of the material used.

Still another object of the invention is the provision of a novel organization that will avoid all harmful consequences of a relatively large clearance between the surface of a follower and the surrounding wall of the reservoir.

Still another object is the provision of a novel implement that is commercially practicable from both production and operation standpoints.

In /the accompanying drawing:

y Figure 1 is an elevation of the implement. Figure 2 is a top plan.

Figure 3 is a vertical section showing one embodiment of the invention.

Figure 4' is an enlarged sectional view showing the details of the valved tip of the implement.

Figure 5 is an enlarged sectional view showing the condition of the parts of the tip when the implement is inuse.

Figure 6 is a vertical sectional view illustrating a modified form of the invention.

The implement consists of a straight-walled, tubular reservoir or barrel 8, preferably cylindrical in form, that contains a body 9 of material which is to be applied to a surface. The rear end of the barrel 8 is preferably closed, ad-

vantageously by a cap I0 secured to the barrel by a drive flt, and provided with a small port II for admission of air as the contents of the tube are withdrawn. The forward, or lower end of the barrel 9 is shouldered to form an end wall I2, and the wall I2 is provided with a central axially extending threaded nipple I3 having a bore I4 that communicates with the interior of the barrel.

Mounted upon the threaded nipple I3 is a "alved tip that comprises a shell or body I5, preferably of streamline outward configuration as shown, and having a threaded bore I6 engaged upon the nipple. 'I'he body I5 of the tip may be of any suitable material that Will provide a smooth surface for sliding over the material to be marked, and that is not subject to corrosion by the material that is used in the implement. Nickel silver and certain of the artificial plastics that satisfy these requirements may beused.

The body I5 of the tip has a reduced extremity I1, through the end of which opens a port I8 from which the material is fed from the implement upon the surface to be treated. The wall surrounding the inner opening of the port provides a seat for a ball valve that is urged to closed position, in which the ball projects through the port and beyond the end of the tip, by a coil spring 20 engaging the rear portion of the ball valve and extending to and seating against the end of the nipple I3. A passageway 2I extends from the port I8 to the threaded bore I6 and thus communicates with the bore I4 of the nipple. This passageway 2| is, immediately behind and adjacent the port I8, cupped, as shown at 22. It has been determined that the cupped formation provides for free flow of the fluent material travelling towards the port I8, probably due to the presence of a comparatively large body of the material at the inner opening of the port. The arrangement is especially useful for application of high viscosity materials by means of implements furnished With very fine ports.

The assembly is such that when the implement is disposed with the barrel 8 in substantially vertical position, the ball valve I9, projecting from the port I8, will present the lowermost portion of the implement. When the projecting ball valve is placed upon a surface and downward pressure is exerted upon the implement, using the barrel 8 as a handle, the valve will be unseated, permitting material to flow from the port I8 to the underlying surface, and lateral motion of the implement will result in the application of the material to the surface according to the travel of the tip.

A follower 23 is slidable within the barrel 8, for the double purpose of exerting pressure upon the body 8 of material within the barrel to feed it to the tip and from the implement, and to protect the material from contact by air. The follower 23 is elongated and its surfaces engage the surrounding surfaces of the barrel. The forward surface 24 of the follower rests upon the upper surface of the body 9 of material within the reservoir, and as the material is used and the height of the body 9 decreases, the follower slides down, remaining in contact with the upper surface of the material, and throughout the use of the contents of the barrel, exerting an even pressure, so that the feed is uniform regardless of the amount of material that is in the barrel.

Since there is, in commercially produced assemblies of barrels and slidable followers, a variation in clearance between the slidably engaged surfaces of the followers and barrels, it has proven commercially impractical to produce assemblies of such accurately fitted parts as to preclude the adherence of fiuent material to the wall of the reservoirs, and the passing of such material by the followers in descending the tubular barrels. In the case of air-drying materials, which comprise the majority of materials that are used in implements of this type, the fluent material behind the follower tends to adhere to the follower and to the wall of the reservoir. As the period of time in which` a charge of material is used may extend for a number of weeks, this material often has ample time to dry, and thereupon the follower sticks in the barrel, rendering the implement useless because the material will not feed from it.

It may also occur in commercially produced assemblies that the clearance is suiilcient, particularly when the implement is charged with highly fluid material, that the weight of the fol-l lower results in the displacement by the follower of the material, which seeps upwardly past the follower, permitting the latter to sink through the body of the material.

To avoid sinking of the follower as just described, it is constructed in the shape of a hollow cup, having a bottom wall 25 for engagement with the upper surface of the material, and upwardly extending side walls 26 that enclose a pocket 21, and that extend upward to a height sumcient to render the follower floatable in a body of the material with which it is to be used. Such a follower, regardless of the space between the outer surfaces of its sidewalls and the surrounding inner surfaces of the reservoir, will float in the material, exerting pressure thereon for feeding, and preventing access of air to the body of material.

Sticking of the follower to the wall of the reservoir by drying of material that it has passed is avoided by enclosing within the reservoir, behind the follower, a small quantity of a material that has a solvent effect upon the material to be applied by the implement. This solvent material is preferably of a type that has a low rate of evaporation, so that in its gaseous state it will remain within the reservoir rather than escape by the air vent II. Such a solvent will throw a sweat by vaporization and condensation upon the inner surfaces of the reservoir, and any of the material to be applied by the implement that is adhering to the wall behind the follower will be acted upon by the follower. The effect is that the material behind the follower is maintained in soft and fiuent condition, and -sticking of the follower by reason of material drying behind it is entirely avoided.

Referring to Figure 3, it will be seen that the Wall 26 of the follower has an outwardly and upwardly bevelled top edge. This is for the reason that it has been found that material behind the follower, due to the presence of solvent, tends to flow down the walls of the reservoir. The bevelling of the upper edge serves to lead such downwardly owing material into the pocket 21. The

. same result may be accomplished without bevellingl in the case of a follower having a thin sidewal Advantageously the solvent within the reservoir behind the follower is carried by the follower itself. For this purpose an absorbent body 28, as cotton, saturated with the solvent, is placed in the pocket 21. The placing of such a body in the pocket is additionally advantageous by reason of the fact that it will absorb the material that flows into the pocket, as described above. The weight of such a body impregnated with an ample amount of solvent is negligible, and the arrangement may be employed without sacrificing the floating character of the follower.

The solvent may be placed elsewhere in the reservoir. For example, as shown in Figure 6, an absorbent body 28 impregnated with solvent may be mounted at the top of the reservoir barrel 30. A tube Il penetrates the body 29 for admitting air to the interior of the reservoir as the material is withdrawn.

It will be apparent that when the embodiment of Figure 6 is employed, the follower may or may not be of floating character, depending largely upon the viscosity of the particular material with which the implement is to be used.

The advantages of the structures herein described will be readily apparent. It may be pointed out, however, that the softening, or maintenance in fluent condition, of the materiaI behind the follower has one quite unobvious advantage. It has been discovered that a peculiar A -feature of an implement provided with a sliding follower is that under changing temperature conditions, the body of fluent material is entirely free to expand and contract, the follower sliding up or down as the volume of material varies. This results in feed-being uniform at all temperatures because the building up of positive or negative lpressures in the material is prevented. By avoiding the presence of hardened material on the walls of the reservoir, the follower is permitted to move rearwardly as the material ahead of it expands. Without provision for the expansion and contraction of the fluent material under temperature changes, the one would result in a spurt of material upon opening of the valve, and the other in retarded feeding of the material.

From the foregoing it is thought that the construction,.operation and many advantages of the and a tubular reservoir arranged for vertical disposition when the tip is in operative relation to a surface to be treated, a body of material that has a solvent effect upon the material to be applied by the implement and having a low rate of evaporation, said body being arranged within the reservoir to occupy a position behind a body of fluent material to be applied by the implement. and a weighted follower slidably mounted within the reservoir for exerting pressure upon a body of fluent material to be applied by the implement. said follower being varranged ahead ofthe body 'of solvent material and comprising a forward wall for engaging the body ofmaterial to be applied and rearwardly extending sidewalls Y that slidably engage the inner surfaces of the reservoir and that enclose a rearwardly open Docket.

herein described invention will be apparentto those skilled in the art, and it will be understood that changes in size, shape. proportions and minor details may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention as set forth in the accompanying claims.

I claim:v Y 1. In an implement for applying a fluent, airdrying material to an underlying surface and including a valved tip for applying the material, a

tubular reservoir arranged for vertical disposition when the tip is applied in operative relation to a surface to be treated, and a weighted follower slidable within the reservoir for exerting pressure upon a body of :fluent material within the reservoir when the implement is in operative position. a body of material that has a solvent effect upon the material to be applied by the implement arranged within the reservoir behind the follower.

2. In an implement for applying a uent, alrdrying material to an underlying surface and including a valved tip for applying the material 3. A follower for use in implements for appli- .cation of fluent material from a vertically dis-` posed tubular reservoir, said follower comprising va forward wall for engagement with the surface of a body of fluent material within such a reservoir, and rigid upstanding sidewalls for freely slidable engagement with the inner surfaces of a reservoir, said sidewalls enclosing an open topped socket. l

4. A follower in accordance with claim 3,

' wherein the upper margins of the sidewalls are sufilciently thin to lead into the pocket material owing downwardly along the inner surfaces ofa reservoir within which the follower is mounted.v 

